Confusion
by Neveah101
Summary: A girl finds herself transported to a strange world of gods and betrayl, ultimately ending up as lotar to Klorel; her only chance of escape to join the deception herself.Disclaimer for entire story: I do not own Stargate or its characters.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Stargate characters or anything to do with the show. Please don't sue me. I forgot to write this at the top of each page, and can't figure out how to go back, so the disclaimer goes for the whole story, i really don't own it, didn't make any money or anything, please don't sue.

I finally did, as one of my reviewers suggested, and spaced out the text so it's easier to read (delayed reaction on my part.) But ugh, i think i forgot to put the disclaimer in...Thnx a bunch to everyone who reviewed ;)

Prologue

_Sik_…_Sika_…_sik_-don-_sik_-don-_sik_-DON-DON!

The girl sat straight up in bed. She could have sworn that she had heard drumming, real drumming, not something in her dreams. She looked around, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark. No. Nothing out of the ordinary, no drummers, no drums, no—

_She felt like she was drifting in air, she saw green dots, floating and drifting in the air above her, forming a triangle. She heard voices, faint voices fluttering about; they seemed calm, then panicked. There was rumbling, like an earthquake, and…weapons firing? She now saw small silhouettes, and they were coming closer…_

Chapter I

CRACK! She awoke most unpleasantly, smacking her head on a low hanging tree branch as she sat up…_a low hanging tree branch?_ She looked around at her new environs in dismay. _Where am I? _She thought. "Where am I?" she called aloud. Of course, no one answered. She was standing in what was, as far as she could tell, the middle of a very old, very dank, and very peculiar forest. The canopy of the forest was so dense that the undergrowth could not possibly get enough sunlight to grow, and yet it flourished. Pale tendrils of delicate-looking vines spiraled up the ancient trees, who themselves were a golden-tan, with strange markings at the base. Actually, the markings were_ very _strange. She looked closer, only to discover that the markings were in fact etchings. Well, that was a good sign. Where there was art, there were people, and she was intent on finding them. As she walked along what looked like a worn trail, she thought. "Okay." She said out loud. "Alright. Uh-huh. Okay. CALM DOWN. Just think of what you know, and put everything together. Well, I'm in a forest, all alone in the dark, following what might possibly be a trail, which may or may not have been made by people, which may or may not led me to those people, who may or may not be able to help me." She paused. Yeah, that was likely. "Let's just figure out the story," she said to no one. "Wait – what was that?" She mentally slapped herself—survival technique number one: when you think you hear a noise, alone in the dark, STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF! She listened. It wasn't one noise, but many; people talking, cattle mooing, horses snorting. But somehow it was wrong. She got closer to look. "Oh." This wasn't a city, a town, or even a farm, as she had expected. It was a village. It was a village from what looked like the Dark Age.

She stole some clothes. Maybe the town was some kind of reenactment, but the people were so authentic. They had pock-marks on their skin, and some obviously suffered from maladies easily treated in the 21st century. Not that she knew how to help them at all. Anyways, she thought it best to lie low. The clothes she had stolen were for a boy, which was just as well. It was probably safer to look like a 12 year old boy than a 17 year old girl. She was small and thin for her age, and if she hid her hair and flattened her chest with another piece of cloth, she thought she was passable as a boy. Because of the plethora of exotic goods and the many different dialects, she assumed that she was in a village which specialized in trade. No one noticed a lone boy drifting in and out of the crowds, which quelled her original fears of being marked as an outsider, a stranger, and being burned as a witch or something. That was never fun. What was really surprising was that, although the townspeople spoke with a thick accent, _they spoke English_. Not even Old English, but English that she could readily understand. _Of course they do, _she thought to herself. _Don't they always speak English in Science-fiction movies? Think about it –sleeping one night, and then…abducted by aliens? _She rolled her eyes at the thought. _All right, aliens. And they were…attacked? Yes, that was what thy panic was about, the….space ship? … it was being fired on. Okay. So, then…then, they decided they would have to get rid of me, to flee. And they…Ohh! I get it. They put me on the wrong…continent? Dropped me off in the wrong…Century? Planet? Parallel Universe? _She had heard the conspiracy theorists, the sci-fi nuts, the wishful thinkers. But she hadn't _believed _any of it. _Yeah, that's right. I've been abducted by aliens, who dropped me off on the wrong planet, which happens to be inhabited by other aliens, who happen to speak English. Right. Now all I need is an over-the-top Bad Guy, with gaudy clothes, a bad accent, who goes around waving a laser-gun at people. _And then she heard the screams.


	2. Chapter II

Chapter II

The crowd had suddenly transformed into a giant mob, panicked and scared. She quickly darted off to the side of the road to avoid being trampled and hung close to the wall of a straw-thatched hut. She didn't know whether to run or hide, but plunging back into the crowd could very will end up with her being crushed to death. She climbed to the top of the hut to see what everyone was running from. She had only gotten a few feet up when heard a fleeting sound and saw a dancing bolt of bluish light hit her square-on, unleashing a paralyzing flood of pain as she fell into darkness.

She woke up to darkness yet again. Faint, glowing orange lights grew stronger and nearer. She sat up and investigated her predicament. She was in a large, reeking, metal cage, with a thick layer of straw covering the floor. She had shackles around her ankles and wrists. She leaned up against the back of the cell, which was not metal bars, but a tall earthen wall. She looked left, right, across. The long hall-like passage way was lined with cages like her own, each holding one sullen occupant. Maybe they were in a cave; it was really dark and dank. Along with the approaching light came voices. Not soft and fluttering like before, but deep, loud, and resonating. Evil. "I want a _lotar _for my son, one young enough to be molded into a proper slave. A male," said one figure as he paced before the cages, "In case he should be needed as a host." The girl wondered: if they were looking for a male, why were they looking at her?

"You!" The girl could now see the speaker, illuminated by the glow of the torches. He was tall, bald, strong-looking, and dressed in a strange array of robes and clothes. He was attended by many; a dozen or so hulking guards in steely uniforms, with snake-shaped helmets pulled over their heads, not to mention what looked like two crazed and hooded priests, and seemingly calm people with horrible cuts, slitting a large X shape on their stomachs. The girl decided that the man, obviously the leader, couldn't possibly be friendly, and found his impossibly deep voice un-nerving. "Rise!" The voice spoke again. This time, the girl was almost entirely sure that he was speaking to her, yet she remained seated. She raised only her head, to meet his eyes directly. _Not easily molded, _she thought_, and maybe he'll go away. Just stay, don't do anything, and maybe he'll go away…_ "Come here." She remained, unblinking, looking him directly in the eye. She had noticed that the others all averted their gaze. _Go away, please go away._ The figure reached for something now, some device. "Why do you not fear me?" he asked in a false, sticky-sweet voice, "How is it that you do not know me? Your God."


	3. Chapter III

Chapter III

"Your God commands you to rise," the voice murmured at her, as if the softness of his voice were enough to convince her to trust him. She spoke, "Actually, I'm agnostic, and you're doing nothing to persuade me." She smiled, trying not to show her panic, her fear. _That's all I need to do. That's all, act stupid or arrogant, or stubborn, or something, anything. Not easily molded and they will go away. Make them go away. Please go away. _

At her response, the man cocked his head a little, glared, and grabbed something from one of his assistants. The girl was shaking now, trembling, with fear, with cold, with hysterical laughter at the sheer ridiculous nature of her situation; but all these thoughts and feelings vanished in an instant, as the man thrust the stick-thing at her chains which carried a horrible current of orange light to her, slicing through every inch of her body as she screamed. The orange light fled as quickly as it came, but the pain remained. She lay on the straw, gasping, it hurt to breath, it hurt so much she couldn't even scream._ Ok, _she thought to herself, _definitely time for a new plan._

The voice spoke again,"Apophis, your god, commands you to get up." She got up. Flexing her arms, she walked to the bars of her cell, took a hold of the bars, and raised her head as far up as her small frame could take her, looking into the eyes of her captor. Strange eyes, harsh and cold, but with some remnant of suppressed sadness and horror. The eyes flashed at her. "So... Who's Apophis?" She knew who Apophis was, at least the myths. But obviously someone here was insane, and she wasn't entirely sure that it was her. "We are Apophis," the response came. She surveyed the montage of strange people in front of her, peering in at her cage. "All of you?" The man frowned, "Only I am Apophis, your god. And you will acknowledge it before the end." This was getting absurd. "Oh. Well…Um. Listen, I'll acknowledge that now if you really think it'll make you feel better, but other than that, I really don't think I can help you, so if there's anything else…" His arm darted up to her throat, and threw her backwards onto the ground, "**KALSHECK! CREE!" **Apophis' booming command sent the formerly tranquil group into a rush of commotion, two guards yanked open the door to her cell, still more seized her roughly and pulled her to her feet, shoving her out into the main hall of the cave, and forcing her to her knees before Apophis.

She looked down at her knees: she had landed in something extremely unpleasant, and wet. "That's disgusting," she couldn't help but comment. Apophis raised her chin to look at him. "I will enjoy seeing you be broken, your spirits crushed until all that's left is an empty husk. No doubt you will resist, no doubt you feel that you will be able to get away, to leave – and no doubt, after many attempts, you will come to realize the futility of your situation, and accept that, until the day you are too old to be of any use, you are a _slave_." He smiled again, sickeningly, and turned away, marching out of the cave with his people following. Someone pulled her to her feet. She looked around, but no point in even contemplating escape here, there were too many of them, all bigger than her, and armed, not to mention the fact that they were in a cave with no where to run.

Now they were out, walking through the streets of the village. Still no chance of escaping. Maybe once they reached the forest. She was lucky, the others who had been taken as slaves were probably chosen for heavy labor, as they were all huge, hulking men. There were only about five of them. Plus the 20-something members of Apophis' original group, but most of them were intent on slavishly hanging on to their master. Was anyone paying attention to her? They hadn't even shackled her as they had the men. Were they expecting her to just resign herself to her fate? After that huge corny speech made by Apophis? Well, even if they were baiting her to try to run, she would accept it. She had no intention of just going with them. They were now entering the forest where she had first woken up, it was dark and shadowy now, and the group pulled together. There was no chance of her fighting her way through the people who surrounded her, but perhaps they wouldn't notice if her small shadow simply slipped away. She made her way to the edge of the group, head down, no eye contact. She walked. And ducked down into a bush, waiting for the group to pass, and miraculously, they did. She knew it was too easy, they were probably waiting for her to try something, but what else could she do?


	4. Chapter IV

Chapter IV

She quickly made her way diagonally from the group, through the strange forest. Hopefully, none of the creatures in here were any worse than the group she had just escaped. She heard voices, angry and guttural. They knew she was gone. _Shit_. She picked up her pace, not caring that she was getting cut by the branches –what should she do? Climbing a tree might hide her, but they might see her, and then she'd be stuck in a tree. She probably couldn't outrun them for long, dodging in and out of the brush. Water would help, maybe, but there was none. She looked up now. The forest had ended, leading her right into an open field. Even worse, the field then ended, coming to a very sheer, very sudden drop off the edge of a cliff. Going back into the forest would lead her to the pursuers behind her, and she certainly didn't think that jumping was worth the risk. Someone was right behind her now, she ran again as he grabbed her shoulder. She flipped him, grabbing his arm, bending a little, and using his inertia to send him flying over her back. That, she knew how to do. Unfortunately, she didn't expect the combined weight of the man and his heavy metal armor to _weigh so_ _damn much_. He brought her down with him, landing painfully on the ground, and by the time she got up, there were four more guards surrounding her, aiming large, nasty looking weapons at her heart.

The guards ended their little game of cat-and-mouse by giving her no other options to escape. Rather than just chaining her again, as she expected, they actually _carried_ her. The indignity of it all_. Fine_, she thought, _I'll just use this all to my advantage. Somehow_. She counted now, the caravan included six guards in formation at the front, then Apophis, surrounded by two complacent women and the pair of crazed priests, two more guards, then the guards carrying her, and then four more who were watching the five other slaves. Escape was not going to happen any time soon. Instead, she thought of what she would do next. What was a_ lotar? _Wasn't that someone who interpreted what the God's wanted? Oh, no, that was an avatar. It wouldn't make any sense anyways, seeing as this Apophis guy thought he was a god, he could just tell everyone what he wanted.

The party had now reached another clearing, this one covered in grayish sand. A huge, upright circle was standing, surrounding by strange rock pedestals in concentric circles. They went closer, and then stopped. In groups of four or five, the people stood on a platform about 40 meters from the circle, and huge rings sprang up from the ground, encircling them. And then they were gone. She went after the priests, held firmly by the guards, and found that the rings somehow transported her to another place.

This new room she found herself in was lit by torches which flickered upon gold hieroglyphs on the walls. She was led through a maze of halls until the guards found an extremely distraught looking man in a loin cloth, presumably another slave. The guard ordered him in some harsh language, and shoved her after the loin cloth man. He led her through another maze of halls until they came to a deserted room, occupied by a giant pool of steaming water. He said something in that dark language she didn't understand. She stared. He glared, and switched to English, "Wash." She didn't move, "why?" He grabbed her arm, "so you can be made presentable to our lord," and shoved her in. She yanked off the smelly,filthy clothes she had on and put them by the edge of the pool. Then he took them! "Hey!' she yelled, but he was gone. She washed; they would definitely notice if she escaped now, what with no clothes and all. And anyways, it felt nice to be clean.

When she looked up, theloin-cloth man was back. "Hey, you – eunuch!" He didn't respond. "You don't mind if I call you that, do you, Eunuch?" No answer. "Anyways, can I have my clothes back?" To this he grabbed her arm, pulling her completely out of the pool, ignoring her protests he shoved a bundle full of new, un-smelly clothes at her. And left. _A little dramatic, aren't we? _She rolled her eyes and fumbled with the strange clothes. They were simple in comparison to what the others were wearing, without the many layers and colors, but still much more elaborate than anything that she ever wore. There was a thin, shimmery, long white skirt that settled by her hips, and had a slit on either side that went up nearly to her hip. The top was some kind of crisscross pleated tank which left her midriff bare. Eunuch came back and pulled her long dark hair into a hundred elaborate braids that spiraled down her back. He looked at her, and smiled darkly. "Now you must come. Our lord calls for you."


	5. Chapter V

Chapter V

Eunuch enjoyed the shocked look on Apophis' face as he presented the girl, thinking that he was impressed by how elegant and attractive she looked now in comparison to the filthy street rat that had been brought in. But instead of praise, Apophis' voice boomed, "Where is he? Where is the insolent snot that was brought in!" Eunuch looked panic, glancing from the girl's calm expression to the man's wrathful one. "My lord, it was this that was brought in. None other." For a second, it appeared that Apophis might just kill everyone in the room and simply decide to start over again, but then a new thought seemed to cross his mind, and his expression changed into one of near-glee. To the girl, this was far more disturbing than the former look of hatred and disgust.

Apophis spoke, "None other, you say? Well, girl, it was wise of you to hide your sex. Not that it did you any good." He came closer to her, "You will still be lotar to my son. And I am most certain that he will break you. Yes, there are so many ways for him to hurt you, to…persuade you, aren't there?" The girl was certain that he was saying these things out of malice, in order to appear in control of the situation. But she wasn't certain if there was really truth to what he was saying. However, attention was diverted from them as another figure entered the room. A guard proclaimed something in that harsh language, and announced, "Klorel!" The new figure, apparently Klorel, strode in towards Apophis and bowed, "Father."

Apophis grinned, "My son. A gift!" He gestured widely towards the girl. "I would have you prove your strength by breaking this _lotar_, and not simply giving up and killing her as you did the last." The girl had a feeling that he was not making up this bit of information just to scare her. Klorel turned to glare at the girl as if this reprimand were her fault. Which, she supposed, it was. Klorel retreated out into the hall, and then into what must have been his own quarters, with the girl in tow. He turned on her, "I will not allow you to embarrass me…" But she wasn't listening. She didn't care. She was transfixed on the window on the other side of the room, staring in disbelief. Klorel smiled at the look of horror on her face, "Yes. Did you not know? We are on a ship, in the vast nothingness that is space. There is nowhere for you to run. The only escape here …is death."


	6. Chapter VI

Chapter VI

The girl really didn't know what to say to that, but luckily, Klorel kept talking, "What do you call yourself?" She really wasn't paying attention, "My name…" she smiled, "Revenge. Who are you? And why do…" she was interrupted, "I AM YOUR GOD!" She frowned, "I thought Apophis was my god." Klorel didn't seem to find this conversation nearly as interesting as her, because he grabbed her chin and raised her face to look directly at his, "Do you know the story of Echo?" he asked. Yes. She knew the story of Echo, but she feigned ignorance anyways. Better to learn what he has to say about it.

Klorel smiled againat her seeming ignorance; "The ancient Greeks say that Echo was a nymph whose chatter greatly annoyed the goddess Hera. As punishment for distracting her, Hera made Echo incapable of saying anything but the imitation of the words of others. She then fell in love with Narcissus, but to him, Echo was nothing. She pined, and faded away until all that was left of her was the faint echo of her voice. This is your fate. You will learn your place until you become and insignificant nothingness, capable only of being obedient to _my_ word. Echo." The girl, now called Echo, looked at him harshly, but spoke softly, "You forgot the rest of the story." Klorel glared, "What!" She looked at him intently, "The rest of the story. Narcissus sees his beautiful reflection in a stream and falls in love with his image. But when his love wasn't returned, when he found that _no one _loved him, _he _pined away, and poor, arrogant, conceited, narcissistic Narcissus became a sorry little flower, gazing at the water forever more."

Then he hit her, the effect was instantaneous, "You bastard little pansy! Who the hell hits-" she interrupted herself by lunging at him, grabbing his shoulder and kneeing him hard; he looked up, aghast. Not so much with pain, but with shock. The expression on his face conveyed something along the lines of 'you can't do that you're a girl/inferior being.' He grabbed her, and dragged her over to some kind of cell, pushed some buttons on a wall, and a barrier of light sprang up, blocking her only exited. Great. Jailed again. And then he left. Obviously, her trying to 'show no fear' was not helping.

For days she sat there, ignored. But she was watching, watching the armored men, the people with the slits on their stomachs, the human slaves, everyone. There was an easily distinguished caste system, but she wanted to learn more. She wanted to figure out the best way of getting what she wanted. Clearly freedom was not something she could get, but maybe, somehow, she could figure out some way…She looked up. There was someone at her door. The figure moved around from the clear wall of energy to the wall on her right, made up only of metal bars. It was one of the slaves, Echo had seen him around before, looking determined, but also…scared. She moved closer to the bars, and could now see that he held some food in his hands. It was her second day in the cage, and she hadn't eaten in all that time. "Hello." He looked down at her, squatting in the shadows to avoid being seen. She suspected that it was night, the torches were lowered, but who could tell in space? He spoke, "I brought you some food." She thanked him, and ate hungrily, but he remained, watching her. When she had finished, he asked, "Who are you?" She had already decided that being snide to the other slaves was unwise; allies could be helpful in her situation.

She told the strangerabout herself, about the life of freedom she had lived. He seemed amazed. In return, he told her much, unbelievable stories about her new life, creatures called the Gould, the Jaffa, eternal, never-ending wars, strange beings, rebellion, subterfuge, mystery, much of what he referred to as "the magic of the gods," and even inexplicable events concerning the Gods, things he should not have seen. She took all of this in, and understood, understood something that she believed no on else knew, except the Goulds themselves: they were not gods, but some other sort of creature, some kind of parasite. Whatever they were though, she was certain that they were powerful...and evil.


	7. Chapter IX

Chapter IX

The next morning, Klorel still lay sleeping, but Echo had, as always, had already gotten up so that she could be dressed and ready to assist Klorel by the time he woke up. She thought she heard a noise, shouting. As she moved closer to the door that lead to the main hall, a half-dozen serpents guards burst through, shoving her out of the way. They quickly found Klorel and surrounded him, aiming their weapons directly at him. No one moved, no one spoke. The silence was sickening.

The First Prime of Apophis approached, slowly with a look of disgust on his face. Klorel spoke, "What is the meaning of this? How dare you-" The First Prime interrupted, "By order of our Lord Apophis, you are to be executed for treason." Klorel looked sickened. He didn't speak as the guards escorted him to the ring room, before his father. Apophis looked furious, truly enraged. "Fath—…" Klorel began, but was silenced by Apophis, "Did you truly think, my son, that I would allow you to command a mother ship without taking precautions to ensure that you would not use it against me!" Klorel was taken aback, "Please, father, I had no such intentions…" Apophis continued, "_My_ servants found and reported evidence that you were planning to lead a contingent of troops against me within the next few days. I do not intend to allow my own son to usurp power from me. You have failed me again, and I will not have your incompetence shame me yet again." Klorel looked around as if hoping someone would vouch for him. Apophis laughed, "Do not be afraid, my son. I will not kill you, no, I wouldn't kill you. But I do need you out of my way. Jaffa, cree!"

More guards rushed in, surrounding Klorel, pushing him onto the ring platform. Echo pushed through the wall of Jaffa, trying to look concerned. Klorel's eyes darted from his father to her. "Yes," said Apophis, "you are to be banished to this planet, but I suppose I will allow you to bring the slave." He looked at Echo with contempt, and pushed her onto the platform, "she is, after all, the only thing you've ever succeeded with. Goodbye, my son." With this, he nodded sharply, commanding one of his Jaffa to activate the rings, banishing Klorel and Echo to the deserted surface of the planet below.


	8. Chapter X

Chapter X

"Alright, let's go," Colonel O'Neill yelled to the rest of his team. Daniel still seemed to be a bit preoccupied…translating something. He'd explained more thoroughly in the mission briefing, but Jack had stopped listening after the first two minutes of Daniel's rant of the archeological possibilities that this planet held. "Chevron seven is locked," came a voice over the intercom. "Daniel," O'Neill warned, "we're going…_now_." Daniel dashed out into the gate room, running up the ramp to catch up to the rest of his team. He was grinning, "All done," he said, "let's go." Jack rolled his eyes at his younger friend's enthusiasm as they passed through the Stargate.

This kind of mission was more Daniel's field than his anyways. Archeological. Usually Daniel would go to a planet like this with a scientific sg team, but because it was suspected that this world was formerly a Gould occupied stronghold, he needed the military back-up of the rest of his team. Or something like that. However, from the looks of things, the planet had been abandoned by the Gould for a very long time. In fact, he thought, surveying the environment around him after passing through the event horizon; it didn't look like _any _of its inhabitants were left, not even human ancestors of those originally brought here to labor. The only thing he could see in any given direction was mile after mile of sparse forest. And dirt. Lots of dirt. Very boring.

_Oh well_, he walked slowly, watching Daniel gleefully sprint towards some ruins half-buried by the base of a tree. Then…"Sir!" Carter called, "I think I heard something." Teal'c inclined his head and listened, "Something approaches." O'Neill looked up, "Okay people, take cover," he ducked behind a gnarled tree. They team watched the sunny dirt path that twisted through the trees and saw a figure running, just coming over a small hill that had previously hidden her. It was a girl, looking very distressed. She was small, dressed in filthy clothes that at one time must have been white, and was carrying a zat. She kept looking over her shoulder as she ran, as if expecting something to jump out at her.

She reached the DHD, exhilarated, and began to dial. Seven symbols later, nothing happened. The stargate was as inactive as ever. She froze. "Oh shit. Oh no, oh shit. Shitshitshitshitshit…" Daniel was about to come out from his hiding place to greet her when O'Neill discreetly shook his head at him. He had heard something else in the forest. "SHOVAH! CREE!" a deep, and very angery voice resonated through the forest.

_Oh God_, thought O'NeillIt was Skaara. O'Neill had not seen Skaara- no, Klorel, he reminded himself, he had not seen him since the failed attempt to destroy earth. He thought he had died then…but even if he hadn't died, what was he doing here? He hadn't noticed O'Neill, not to mention the rest of his team. He was intent on the first figure, the girl. At Klorel's words, she spun around and raised her zat. _What was she thinking?_ thought O'Neill, Klorel was bound to have a hand device and personal shield. He looked closer. No, nothing. Klorel didn't appear to have any technology on him. Klorel glared at the girl. "YOU DARE BETRAY YOUR GOD!" he questioned. The girl ignored this, "I shot you once Klorel, you make me do it again and you die. Real death, no sarcophagus, and no coming back. Two shots kill, Klorel, even you."

_Hmm_, thought O'Neill, smart girl. Now she woulddial, still keeping an eye on Klorel, and back away towards the active wormhole. Any minute now. Any second. O'Neill waited for the girl to dial. Except she didn't. She didn't do anything at all. O'Neill sighed and stood up, "Howdy folks!" the girl looked startled, but kept her weapon aimed at Klorel. The rest of his team stood up as well. Klorel spoke, "YOU ALIGN YOURSELF WITH _THESE_! YOU WILL DIE A THOUSAND DEATHS FOR YOUR BETRAYAL!" The girl frowned. She seemed to be thinking of something else entirely. She muttered something to herself and looked around. The newcomers had huge weapons pointed at Klorel. Obviously they knew what he was. But what should she do?

She turned to Klorel, "Obviously you know these people, Klorel. I don't. I'll just…leave you in their capable hands, I gotta go," she began to back away towards the edge of the forest, zat still raised. "Wait," yelled O'Neill. She girl wasn't about to argue with him, being as he and his people were all still clutching very large, very nasty-looking guns. These people seemed more human than the other slaves she had met on the ship for some reason, they seemed very real, not familiar, but…normal. _Doesn't mean you should trust them though_, she told herself. She waited, "Yes?" No one moved. O'Neill began, "Uh…listen, kid, do you live here?" "No," the girl responded, and explained her situation. O'Neill tightened his grip on his gun, the poor kid didn't seem to have any place to go. "Well, if you don't mind, we're going to take Skaara back with us to our world…" The girl was puzzled, "Who?"

O'Neill explained, "Skaara, the host body."

"The what?"

"The _host body_,"

"I heard what you _said_…"

"Oh. Let me explain. Um. You see, kid, the Gould are parasites: they take over people's bodies, and a Gould called Klorel took over the body of my friend, the boy Skaara….Get it?...Klorel isn't a god. None of the Gould are."

"I know _that!_"

"Well, than can you understand—"

Daniel jumped in, "Eh-heh, excuse me, " he began, raising his hands peacefully and turning to the girl, "What my friend is trying to say is that we are going to take Klorel back home with us, and try to restore the body to Skaara somehow."

At this moment Klorel interrupted, "And you will fail!"

Daniel chose to ignore this remark and continued speaking to the girl. "Anyways, since that will undoubtedly leave you all alone on this planet, you, too, are welcome to come back to our world if you like. Or, if you know the coordinates to your own world, we can send you back there.

The girl just stared for a moment. So her theories about the Goulds were correct. And she couldn't just kill Klorel now, as she was considering, because that would also kill this Skaara person. She spoke to the younger man, "You have a ship?"

Daniel frowned, "No, we came via the Stargate."

"Then how are you getting back?"

"What?"

"How are you getting back? The Stargate dialer doesn't work."

"What?" said Daniel.

"What?" said Carter.

"Say what?" said O'Neill. Teal'c just looked mystified. O'Neill continued, "Carter, check it out."

The girl watched as the blond woman made her way to the DHD. "Sir," she started, "she's right, it won't work."

The older man glared, "Then _make it_ work, Carter."

They woman shook her head, "No sir, I can't. The control crystals are gone."


	9. Chapter XI

Chapter XI

The blond woman then went into a long rant about why the DHD wouldn't work without the control crystals, and how hard it would have been for someone to remove them, and why something called the MALP should have caught these kinds of things. Echo neither listened nor cared. Crap. She should have thought of this. Of course the DHD wouldn't work if Apophis meant to exile Klorel here. Stupid girl, she chastised herself, all that planning!

The younger man was approaching her again, she looked up sharply. "Its okay," he assured her, offering her his hand. She eyed him suspiciously and his hand fell limply back to his side, "I'm, I'm Daniel Jackson," he said, and then pointed to the older man, the blond woman, and an extremely stoic figure standing in the back, "This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, and Teal'c," the stoic figure nodded at her. She could now see that he bore the sign of the Serpent Guard, and she stiffened, her hand subconsciously fingering her own tattoo. It was a thin, dark serpent coiled tightly around her upper right arm. She had been given it after she was officially made _lotar _to Klorel. From the Teal'c's expression, he knew what her mark meant as much as she knew about his. Daniel seemed to notice the terse expressions on their faces and tried to ease the tensions, "It's alright, he doesn't serve the Gould." The girl stiffened, "Nor do I."

The girl looked beyond him to where O'Neill and Carter were arguing. She hoped they were still keeping an eye on Klorel. She didn't want him escaping and doing something unfortunate. Like killing her. She spoke, "I am Echo." It was strange, she later thought, how quickly she had accepted this name. But it seemed to be more of her than her old name. She suspected that these people were from earth, as she was, judging from their speech, names, ranks, dress, and technology. But she wouldn't say anything. Let them think she was from some other planet. Just in case. Jack turned to the rest of the group, "Looks like we'll need to find another way off this rock," he stated. Echo suspected that he had no idea how to do that.

She spoke, "I should have suspected something like this. Why would Apohis have stranded us on a planet with an active Stargate? Wouldn't make any sense." She sighed. Klorel looked up, slowly, "…You knew!" This seemed to make the girl happy, " 'Course I knew. I planned the whole thing." With this she stood up, "I think…yes," she seemed to have been weighing her options, remembering something, "I'm leaving." She turned to leave, backing into the woods again. Jack looked over at her, "You have a way off, don't you?" The girl looked back at him, "Maybe." The Colonel sighed, "Show us. We were going to help you." Echo paused. "Yes, I suppose that that would be the right thing to do. But I expect you'll be wanting to bring _that _along?" she gestured to Klorel. No answer. "Fine," she said, and made her way off into the woods, followed by Sg-1 and Klorel as their prisoner.


	10. Chapter XII

Disclaimer: I still don not own any of the Stargate characters or the show or anything.

Chapter XII

She took off through the woods at a brisk pace, leaving Sg-1 to deal with Klorel, who was tied up, and being led at gun point. The team took up a defensive formation as they walked, just in case this girl was leading them into some kind of trap. As they walked, the girl explained her story, her capture, and how she and Klorel had been left on this planet. They'd been on the planet's surface for months now, but she had had time to prepare "I grabbed this before we left," she held up a small black device, "It's a kind of global positioning device. I knew the coordinates of the Stargate and we've been heading towards it since we got here. Of course, Klorel didn't know, I told him we were following...animals, or the river or something. Anyway, we've been in the general vicinity of the gate for awhile, but I didn't risk leaving until today. Last month I went out collecting food -- Klorel still expects me to serve him." She rolled her eyes, but the team couldn't see it, "But I found something else. I think it can help." As it turned out, what she had found was a ship. It contained a single, dying alien who had fled to this planet believing it to be safe. He was too injured for Echo to help much, but she brought him food and water. And talked to him. And buried him. She said that she thought he had taught her enough to be able to fly his ship. The group reached a large, empty clearing, "It should be here!" the girl shouted against the wind. She walked determinedly towards the empty field THUNK "Oww...think I found it." She took a step back from the ship, which apparently, had the ability to turn invisible. "I'll go up, then send Klorel, then yourselves..." Her voice faded as ring transporters descended around her. She looked around; she had been on the ship enough times to know how to operate most of it, but not everything. Shortly after her arrival on the ship, Klorel appeared. Echo turned to him, leveling the zat at his chest. "Over there." She ushered him into a cell and raised a force field-like wall blocking his escape. She turned back to the rings to await the others. "Nice ship," observed O'Neill upon his arrival. The girl smiled, but then walked towards a control panel, raising another energy wall around the team. O'Neill looked stricken, "what the hell are you doing?" Echo glanced back at him, "Sorry, but I can't risk it. I can't trust you. After all, you do know a lot about the Gould, how do I know your not—" O'Neill cut her off, "We _fight_ the Gould!" The girl walked away, trying to figure out how to launch the ship.

The mood inside Sg-1's cell was not happy. Teal'c felt slighted, he had recommended against trusting the girl who, in all likelihood, had been raised since childhood to serve the Gould. Jack felt responsible for basically screwing his team over by trusting some strange and paranoid kid. Sam couldn't believe that they had been imprisoned so easily, so gullibly. And Daniel felt betrayed. He had _trusted _that girl, he had assured his team that she was just scared, cautious, but that she would help them. There had to be someway to get through to her. He tried to talk to her "You can't keep us in here forever," Echo looked over from the front of the ship. "I know. I won't....I'll just...I'll go to where I need to go, ring out, and then you four can have the ship..." Obviously her plan wasn't very well thought out. Now Carter spoke, "I seriously doubt that you'll be able to fly this ship the entire way to wherever you are going. You'll need to rest..." Echo interrupted, "No, see, I'll just go to the other planets in this solar system, I'm fairly sure that at least one other has a Stargate on it." Carter looked horrified, "Listen, there's no way you can do this. Even if you do know how to fly the ship, you can't just randomly fly through space looking for a planet. And even if you did find one, it would take years to use the ship's sensors to find the Stargate unless you know exactly what you're looking for. You can't do this alone. You need our help."


	11. Chapter XIII

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Stargate characters or the show itself.

Chapter XIII

The girl considered this. She had been alone in mind for a very long time. It'd be nice to trust someone. And they didn't seem...evil. She lowered the force field, "Only Major Carter can come..." she started, but all four members of the team had already shoved their way past her. And they were all still armed. She should have thought of that. What was wrong with her? Echo chided herself, _a little emotion, a little hope and I'm going all soft_. She watched helplessly, and slightly relieved as the team immediately took over the situation. They took over flight, weapons, and a couple other stations that she didn't even know existed. Carter was fascinated, "Sir, this ship is Tok'ra. Except with some strange modifications." The team was obviously very used to working with each other, anticipating each other, but this left the girl completely out of the loop. She stood towards the back of the ship so as to avoid getting in their way. Unfortunately, this left her in direct sight of Klorel, who by now was pissed, betrayed, hurt, mad, infuriated, sickened, scared, and a whole lot of other things. He glared at her. "I should have killed you when I had the chance," he said loudly and un-originally. Echo rolled her eyes, "Yes, I'm sure we've all reached that conclusion on our own by now." Klorel was shocked, she was no longer afraid of him! Or was no longer pretending to be afraid of him. She had used him...."I'm glad I hurt you so often when you were acting as my slave, I'm glad...what would your new friends think if they knew—" Echo looked up sharply, "SHUT UP!!!" She gasped, as if someone had hit her. Klorel thought, _I've hit a soft spot. I will hurt her yet before I die..._He started to continue, mocking, telling everything, reminding her, embarrassing shame and hurt. _I've won_, he thought, looking at the pained expression on her face, mocking her. _I've hurt the pride and dignity that I thought was dead in her_. He continued taunting her, but was cut off, "No!! _You don't get to speak_, you haven't won! You've lost, lost Klorel, and now you're going to die, alone and unloved, betrayed and scared. And _I've_ done it. _I_ did it Klorel, all of it, you're here, denounced by your father, in the hands of your enemies because of _me_. _I_ planned, _I_ waited, _I_ learned and watched, and it all came through, and now you're going to leave that body and become an insignificant worm that lives up to the nothingness you always were. You may have hurt me, but not enough, never enough because_ I did this to you_."

Echo fled to the only part of the ship she could be alone in, some kind of compartment in the back. She was actually pretty certain that it was some kind of closet. Oh well. Wow. She didn't know she had that in her. She'd never been one for giving speeches, and she had just lectured the ass off some really old, evil, satanic monster thing that really_ could_ kill her a thousand times over. What does a person do after living like this? She had felt herself change, she was…paranoid. Jittery. And she didn't think she could change back.


	12. Chapter XIV

Chapter XIV

All through the rest of the journey, Sg-1 didn't talk much to the girl Echo. O'Neill pretended to be busy with flying the craft, but he was really trying to avoid thinking too much about Skaara, who was sitting there, after all this time, so close to him yet so far. Teal'c still distrusted the girl, and Carter didn't quite know what to make of it all. Daniel had tried to talk to her, but since her out burst, she seemed withdrawn into some world of her own. Not to mention the literal world of that storage closet. She had spent every second of the past year or so trying to think of and plan for her escape. She felt she was in control somehow. And now…what was she going to do? Where was she going to go? She had far too much time to think.

Carter had told everyone that they were much too far from home to plan on flying the whole way in such a small ship. As soon as they could, they were going to find a planet and gate back to earth. Once they landed Echo followed the team towards the Stargate. It wasn't far, and there were relatively few inhabitants on the planet that they chosen to gate from. She considered many things, running, hiding, escape, but in the end she just followed. She watched as Sg-1 walked through the gate leading Klorel, and hesitated only slightly before stepping through. And then they were home.


	13. ChapterXV

Chapter XV

The next few days were rather uneventful. She was questioned about her limited knowledge about the Gould and their technology. The questions they asked her pertained mostly to the Gould, not her own personal experiences, which she was grateful for. She was staying in a small room in the underground base, not doing much. The only person she felt remotely comfortable with was Daniel, she was interested in archeology and, frankly, he just seemed…calm sometimes, and not judgmental. Nice. She hadn't seen O'Neill, Carter, or Klorel since they arrived. Daniel said something about the Tokra, and removing the Gould symbiote, but they hadn't told her much about anything. They let her have access to the internet, books, Daniel's office, the commissary, and most of the random requests she had. Not that those were many. She felt like they were waiting for something, but she didn't know what. She had a feeling that they were all discussing what exactly to do with her now, but none of them would tell her anything concerning her future to her face. She just had to wait.

On the fourth day, Echo was lying on her bed listening to very loud, very harsh music. Daniel knocked and rolled his eyes_, how could she possibly know what kind of music people her age listened to on earth_? She looked like such a normal teenager. It was weird. She definitely wasn't normal. She couldn't hear him come in with the music on so he walked up to her, tapping her on the shoulder. "AHHHHH!" Echo jumped up and grabbed the nearest utensil from her untouched food tray. She thought it was a fork but, "A spoon?" inquired Daniel. She looked at her hand and considered, "Hey, I've seen some pretty gruesome things done with a spoon…" Daniel grinned, she didn't seem quite as depressed as before, "You know, you really should eat that. It's good for you." Echo poked the food, "Nothing that color green could be good for you. Besides, I swear I saw it move about an hour ago." Daniel was fairly certain that she was kidding, but he thought he'd seen commissary food move before too, so he decided not to comment. "They want you up in the briefing room, to ask just a few more questions."


	14. Chapter XVI

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate or its characters. No money was made from this story.

All done now. Was it bad? Did it make sense? Please review, and thanks!

Chapter XVI

Echo counted the metal stairs as they walked up towards the briefing room, not really paying attention. That is, until she looked up. There was Hammond, O'Neill Carter...._and Klorel. _She panicked, tripping over her own feet and accidentally shoving over a sergeant as she darted out the door. _He wasn't tied up or anything! After all that she was surprised he hadn't tried to kill her yet or something..._She whirled around as someone grabbed her arm -- but it was only Daniel, dragging her back in. He spoke, "Remember what we told you? This isn't Klorel...this is Skaara." _Oh._ She remembered now. What was this? Why were they doing this? What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to _feel? _She just stared.

Skaara looked up. She was still staring at him. _Why was she still staring at him!!!???!!! _He couldn't make anything any better, it wasn't his fault! But...but why did he feel so guilty? So guilty...her face was a constant reminder of that guilt. But why was she staring? What was he supposed to do? To say to her? How was he supposed to feel? He didn't know if anything he felt towards this person, affection, guilt, grief, hatred, love...he didn't know if they were his own feelings or remnants of Klorel's. He didn't know how much of this person he knew, and how much of it was a mask she had put on to ensure her survival and escape.

The others in the room could sense every molecule in the area charge with anxiety. Well, they didn't look like they were going to kill each other so it was worth a try, "I'm hungry," declares O'Neill, "let's eat." They others all appear to be hungry as well, as they all scamper off after him, leaving Skaara and Echo alone in the briefing room.

Skaara had to do something, anything, to get her to stop staring at him. "I..." he began, "I'm sorry." Echo looked up, startled. She so wanted to be mad at him, to have someone to blame, every time she saw his face she saw....no. No that wasn't true. His voice was...different, softer, gentler, with an accent. His clothes, his hair, "Don't be," she tells him, "You were just as much a slave as I was. Maybe more. It can't be helped." She turned away. What was left now? What could she do with her life now? She had no goals anymore, no desires. For so long she was focusing on escape, what now? How could her life have any significance to it now that she knew the bigger picture of life and existence itself? There were bigger fights to be fought than any job she had considered before had to offer. What could she do that would have any meaning to her?

Skaara thought for a long while after this. He thought he might detest this girl, this loathsome, manipulative creature. But this girl, this girl who was no echo, but strong stubborn, this girl who brought down an emperor, this girl who he loved and hated, this girl he didn't know at all. Not really. He didn't know what he would do with his life now, now that he knew how big the universe was, now that he had learned of the bigger causes in the galaxy that he wanted to be a part of. He wanted to help, to be a part of the fight for freedom. But how? Everything seemed so big, and he so insignificant. He looked at the girl again. He would start his future with his past. He would make things right with her. "My name is Skaara," he said, extending his arm. The girl was surprised. She hadn't really been honest with anyone here, not really. She hadn't told them her real name, she hadn't even mentioned that she was from earth. It was better to have secrets, better not to let them know too much about her...but sometimes she longed for a friend..._No! _she ordered herself, no, she would continue to live in her lies, her bitterness that she was now so comfortable with_. No point in taking chances with trust...Right?....Yes-No, no, I don't know_, she shook her head and changed her mind, no more secrets, no more lies, she interrupted her own thoughts with new determination, "Hello, Skaara," she took his hand and began with the truth, with the part of herself that she had tried to hide for so long, "My name is Amity."

THE END


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